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AROUND AFRICA 

AND 

ACROSS THE ANDES 


FRANCIS J. LOWE 

Copyrighted , 1909. 




International Press 
New York: 

1909 


To the young Yankee , at home and abroad , this 
book is affectionately dedicated by 


The Author . 


AROUND AFRICA 


AND 

ACROSS THE ANDES 


Around Africa and across the Andes. It was our privilege 
to take these trips separately in the pursuit of trade, yet we 
endeavored to combine business with pleasure and will, in as 
brief a manner as possible, attempt to describe both. 

If the reader will travel with us in . spirit across the North 
Atlantic to England along the European shore, down the West 
Coast of Africa, around the dark continent, through the Red Sea 
and the Mediterranean to Madeira, and then pausing as it were 
to take our bearings, sail far away once more to the South down 
the East Coast of South America as far as the great River Plate, 
across the Andes Mountains, up the West Coast of South 
America to Panama, over to Cuba, and then back to dear old 
New York, he can imagine that he made the same trip in a 
few hours. 

All Aboard. 

Leaving New York and passing out, our thoughts naturally 
revert to the friends on shore who wished us God-Speed, and 
many decided to flash a final farewell through a wireless mes- 
sage. This means of communication with the shore is so well 
patronized that we were notified by the operator to file all such 
messages at once as considerable time was required to transmit 
them. Being clear of Fire Island we now settle down to our 
five days’ spin across the Atlantic and begin to unpack our bag- 

3 


gage. It does not take long to "et acquainted on board ship, 
especially when leaving a port like New York, as each one 
approaches the other in a plain democratic manner with the usual 
query, “Are you not from Chicago?’’ or “The weather is very 
fine,” etc., nor is it difficult to know the officers of the ship at 
sight, especially those having in charge the comfort of the pas- 
sengers. The chief steward, the common steward, the purser, 
in fact every one from the captain down have already learned 
the passengers’ names as well as the history of their past lives — 
how much they paid for their passage, occupation, social status, 
etc. The chief steward is also an adept at “Dun and Bradstreet- 
ing” any particular person. All soon found their rating in his 
plan of the dining room, as when seats have been assigned one 
can tell by his location just exactly where he belongs in the 
chief steward’s blue book. If you are seated at the captain’s 
table, you can rest assured that “Who’s Who” has rated you very 
high. The writer was fortunate enough to be placed at the right 
elbow of the “chief officer” at dinner, so presume that my rat- 
ing while not “aa” was at least ‘A’ in any event. The passenger 
who has never seen the Atlantic Ocean usually fights to get at 
the captain’s table but seldom succeeds. As a matter of fact 
experienced travelers prefer the purser's table as he is usually 
a hale fellow well met and a good story-teller. 

This ridiculous assignment of seats, however, is fast dying 
out, and some of the German lines have abolished it altogether — 
a wise and an American idea. 

Our trip across to old England is pleasant on board but 
rather rough on the sea, it being the month of October. The 
vast ship which carries us across the big pond is like a great 
floating hotel, and we feel perfectly at home. The “mile run 
of the ship is posted at noon every day, and the passengers usu- 
ally get up pools each day — a decimal pool or an auction pool, 
on the run of the ship, so as to separate themselves from some 
of their money. The decimal pool is limited to ten persons, one 
to ten. The final number of the ship’s run wins, as for instance 
at 587 miles in a day seven would win. In an auction pool, the 
possible mileage is auctioned off to the highest bidder and is 
usually a cold-blooded gambling proposition and open to all sorts 
of manipulation, because the stake each day is enormous, some- 
times amounting to One Thousand Dollars. 

4 

* 


Banks of Newfoundland. 


We passed the Banks of Newfoundland two days out, 
and one can easily tell when we are off the banks by the 
number of passengers who are sea-sick or imagine they are sea- 
sick and retire to their cabin to actually become sea-sick. Pass- 
ing a steamer or sailer occasionally, breaks the monotony of 
the sea view. The smoking room contributes more to our enjoy- 



A Round Tower in Ireland. 

ment than any other section of the ship. Here, the male pas- 
sengers usually congregate and compare notes between puffs of 
all breeds of cigars and cigarettes. You have the “Windy” 
Gentleman from the West — who cleaned up a fortune, the Lord 
knows how ; the prosperous merchant from our Great Cities ; the 
young man going abroad to be educated at the expense of Father: 



the captain of industry or finance who is usually a good listener; 
the loud talker who knows it all on any question that comes up ; 
the returning emigrant, and last but not least the professional 
gambler who, like the vultures, usually hovers about his pros- 
pective victim. Each, however, contributes his share to the gen- 
eral enjoyment of all. 

On the morning of the fifth day, the lookout sings out from 
the Crow's nest “Land Ahead” on the port Bow, and within an 
hour or so, the passengers get a glimpse of the rocky Islet, which 
marks the approach to the Coast of Ireland. In about six hours 
we are in Queenstown Harbor, and behold, in all its beauty that 
part of the Emerald Isle of the Western World. This little spot 
on the earth's surface ages ago was the seat of learning for 
Europe, but to-day is depopulated, in ruins and decay on account 
of too much Legislation, Litigation and License administered by 
the Commons and the Clergy. As a consequence, the Irish people 
have been compelled to migrate from this garden spot of Europe 
and earn a livelihood in lands beyond the sea. 

Leaving Ireland, our next stop is old England, where at 
Liverpool we take train to Southampton, and board a Royal 
Mail Steamer for Madeira, to connect with the Armadale Castle, 
pride of the Castle Line for our trip to the Cape, and around 
Africa. 

Along the Shores of Europe. 

The first span of our journey around Africa is from South- 
ampton to the Cape of Good Hope and while the better way is 
from Southampton by way of the Castle Line, we prefer to go 
as far as Madeira by the Royal Mail Route so as to stop at some 
of the interesting places along the European shore. A trip of 
forty thousand miles on land and sea, passing through the Suez 
and Panama Canal Routes, visiting the peoples of two vast con- 
tinents, studying their demands as well as their customs is com- 
pensation in itself, leaving aside the commercial advantages or 
pecuniary return gained thereby. Along the European shore are 
many points of interest which we cannot overlook. 

Our first stop out from Southampton is Cherbourg. Here, 
the passengers who desire to visit Paris have an opportunity to 
disembark. Cherbourg is a quaint French town with an excellent 
harbor protected by an immense breakwater. It is known prin- 

0 


cipally as a naval and military station and in the barracks here 
can be found some of the worst specimens of the French Army 
who are sent to this post from Africa and other colonies of 
France to be disciplined, and a sorry spectacle they are. There 
is an excellent parade ground here and a monument of Napo- 
leon, representing the little corporal astride a powerful charger 
pointing towards England, as if leading the French Soldiery in 
that direction. Our next stop, after leaving France, is Spain. We 
enter the harbor of Corunna, the historic spot where one of the 
generals of the English army was buried. The grave of General 
Moore, who fought so valiantly for the British Empire, is deco- 
rated once a year with great ceremony by the English residents. 

Our next stop is Vigo, which has a landlocked harbor, and 
a favorite sheltering spot for the navies of Europe. It was the 
writer’s privilege to view the Russian Fleet in this harbor, and 
one vessel, the flagship, which took such an active part in the 
war against Japan, looked in fit condition to go to war again 
with any other vessel of its size. The Russian navy has improved 
in vessels as well as in men. The officers on shore as well as 
the sailors, looked equal if not superior to any other men of their 
class in the world. 

Portugal. 

We now leave Spain and our next stop is Leoixes, the port 
for Oporto in Portugal. An excellent breakwater in this port 
enables us to land safely and proceed by an electric road to 
Oporto. This City in Portugal is beautifully situated, and a mag- 
nificent view of the river and city can be had from the top of 
the hills, where the Botanical Gardens are located. The famous 
Oporto wines come from here, and an excellent bottle of this 
beverage can be had for three shillings. A curious sight in 
Oporto is to see the bullock-carts, wending their way along the 
principal thoroughfare, led by the poorest of the poor, just as 
they did one hundred years ago, but the pitiable condition of the 
people engaged in this traffic is certainly not a very pleasant sight. 

We left the next morning for Lisbon, the capital City of 
Portugal, beautifully situated on the River Tagus. The City of 
Lisbon is without doubt equal if not superior to Naples in 
scenic effect, magnificence of its palaces, and places in general. 
A Cathedral in Lisbon contains the remains of all the Kings and 

7 


Queens of Portugal and those privileged to enter the portals of 
the death chamber were given an opportunity to view the faces 
of the dead King and his Son, who were assassinated last year. 
Another great sight in Lisbon is the new bull-ring. Here, the 
Portuguese assemble on Sundays and other occasions to witness 
one of the most blood-thirsty sights that it is possible for human 
beings to look upon and how they can reconcile their religious 
belief with such blood-thirsty pastimes and pleasures is certainly 
beyond conception of ordinary mortals. The Government derives 
an enormous revenue from this source, and as long as the Latin 
race exists, there is no doubt that some form of blood-thirsty 
pastime will endure. The sight of blood seems to delight these 
people in general, and whether the result of the climate or 
the wines that they consume, it certainly is a blot upon our mod- 
ern civilization. The proper way to see Lisbon is to start from 
the Plaza by Automobiles and then the heights of the City can 
be reached in a comparatively short time and a magnificent view 
of the surrounding country obtained. The Palace of the King 
is located at Cintra, and those having an opportunity to visit this 
magnificent structure should certainly take advantage of the time. 

Madeira. 

We leave Portugal and now set sail for the Island of Ma- 
deira, where we connect with the steamer that sails for South 
Africa. Madeira with the best climate of any Island in the world, 
is a great pleasure resort. The remarkable ride down the Moun- 
tain can be made in the Madeira carts without wheels, as they 
slide down the Mountains at a rapid pace, and are very cleverly 
handled by the natives. Excursion parties leave by the 
mountain railway every half hour and allow tourists to visit the 
famous church on the summit and the Hotels, within the few 
hours' time that the steamer remains in the harbor. Madeira 
chairs are a great novelty, and can be bought for ten shillings. 
Thev make an excellent souvenir from the Island. They can be 
used on board ship. The boys diving from the ships in this port 
obtain quite a revenue from passengers and it is a curious sight 
to see how they can bring up coins from the bottom of the bay, 
provided that they are silver ones, as the natural inclination of 
natives in Madeira as elsewhere is to secure the most money in 
the shortest possible time. There is only one good Hotel in 

8 


Madeira at present. A German Syndicate secured some property 
and built a magnificent Hotel on the summit, but some one dis- 
covered a Portuguese law which prevented any competition on 
the Island, and as a result the Hotel is finished but cannot be 
occupied. As a consequence, the German lines have issued orders 



Natives of South Africa. 

not to stop at Madeira, until the German Hotel is allowed to open 
for business, which after all is but natural, and will bring the 

Portuguese government to its senses, as it means a great loss in 
revenue. 

Off to the Cape. 

Leaving Madeira, we now set sail far to the South for the 
Cape of Good Hope, on board the Armadale Castle, the largest 
steamer of the Castle Line. This steamer might be described 

9 


as 



a floating palace with all modern conveniences. It requires twelve 
days to make the trip from Madeira to Cape Town, and the pas- 
sengers settle down to this long spin with contentment. A few 
days out from Madeira, “We cross the Line” and those who have 
not been initiated, are properly introduced to Father Neptune, 
and in addition to having the customary bath, are compelled to 
go through the customary forms, which for the male passengers 
is very interesting. Games are held on board the steamer for 
at least three days, and such pastimes as threading the needle, 
shoe race, and egg race for the ladies are indulged in and more 
strenuous exercises for the men. We pass Liberia, the little 
republic on the West Coast of Africa, known as the place 
from which the Negro race in America had its origin, as 
in the days of slavery the natives of this section were forcibly 
taken prisoners and carried in the slave ships to North America, 
and are to-day citizens of the United States, to the extent of ten 
millions of human beings. 

We pass the Congo River just below the Equator, one of 
the great rivers of Africa, which penetrates into the interior 
where Stanley made his famous trip and rescued Livingstone 
through the aid of the British Government. At night the South- 
ern Cross appears. This can only be seen from the other side 
of the Equator and while it is an odd arrangement of the stars, 
it would require considerable calculation on the part of the on- 
looker to make a cross of it. We pass German West Africa 
just before entering Cape Town. It was here that the Russian 
Fleet put in for coal on its way around Africa, to be sunk by 
the Japanese Fleet off the coast of Japan. We also pass St. 
Helena, that desolate Island off the west coast of Africa, where 
the great Napoleon was held prisoner until his death. We now 
arrive at Cape Town, the great port of South Africa with its 
table mountain over two thousand feet high, and the lion's head 
and the devil’s peak, known to every resident of British South 
Africa. The City of Cape Town is a modern City in every 
way, electric tram cars, high buildings, electric lighted, and in 
every way an up to date City. A peculiar custom on the trolley 
cars in this City is to allow no more passengers on board once 
the car is filled, so that in one way, they are ahead of our great 
cities in the United States, as no passengers stand up. The fare 
is one penny to any distance within the city’s limit. A beautiful 


10 


sea-sicle resort near Cape Town is called Camps Bay, which has 
in the back ground, mountains known as the twelve apostles, ow- 
ing to their peculiar formation. Within the city's limit, known 
as the exhibition grounds, was the famous Corral built by Lord 
Kitchner to hold prisoners of war, during the great struggle 
with the Boers, and in one section, thousands of women and chil- 
dren were huddled together with poor sanitary arrangements, 
and died from starvation and disease. 

Up Country. 

From Cape Town, the Railroad runs to Johannesburg and 
within a few hours after leaving Cape Town, we arrive on the top 
of the great table land of South Africa, known as the Karoo, a 
desolate plain extending hundreds of miles, and with very little 
vegetation. The trip to Johannesburg on this Railroad is a remark- 
able one in this way, that you travel ten miles north and back five 
miles during the trip, as the Railroad was built by the mile, and 
the contractors took good care to make the trip as long as pos- 
sible. We arrive at Bloemfontein, half way to Johannesburg, a 
market town situated in the valley. In the cemetery near here, 
are buried ten thousand men of the British Army, who died from 
disease and fatigue on their march to Johannesburg behind Lord 
Roberts. All the way to Johannesburg can be seen reminders of 
the British Army on this famous march. In the distance, can be 
seen thousands of tin cans, which once held supplies, consumed 
by the British Army; then used by them as alarm signals by 
hanging them on railings, to warn them of the approach of the 
Boers during the night time. Distances in South Africa on the 
Plateau are very deceiving, as what appears to be one mile from 
the train, might as a matter of fact be five miles. This is on 
account of the clearness of the atmosphere. 

Johannesburg. 

Johannesburg, the great mining center of South Africa, is 
a modern City in every way. The greatest gold mines in the 
world are located here and it has been figured out by American 
engineers that it will require at least fifty years more before these 
great mines are exhausted. The mining properties, however, are 
in control of a few men and they hire kaffirs to do the work under 
contract at very small cost. The introduction of Chinese on 

11 


their part has been stopped by the British people within the past 
few years, and under the new law, all Chinese must be deported 
within a certain specified time. At the time the writer was in 
Johannesburg, white men could not find work, as the black men 
and the Chinese had secured all positions, with the exception of 
mining engineers, and experts, mostly American. It seems a pity 
that in this City of gold, where so much wealth has been accu- 
mulated, white men should starve, so as to gratify the grasping 
greed for gold on the part of a few individuals, who spend much 
money in all kinds of dissipation in London and Paris to gratify 
their weaknesses. The Rand Club is the great center of the 
Elite of Johannesburg. Here, in an afternoon can be found the 
great money Kings of Johannesburg, having their afternoon tea, 
and other kinds of tea not marked on the bill of fare. The 
Goldfields Hotel is the center for business men, and others con- 
nected with the exploration and development of this part of 
South Africa. The kaffir or native is a very enterprising citizen 
in South Africa, but is used for all purposes, and one of the 
sights of Johannesburg is to see the rickshaw drawn by one of 
these natives, who can travel for miles at a very rapid pace, as 
good in every respect as the Equine animal. In fact, these natives 
imitate horses as much as possible when standing still, by their 
braying. The beautiful head-gear of these people is much to be 
admired, and they wear the teeth of their enemies in bracelet 
form around their legs. These kaffirs make excellent servants, 
and can be hired for one pound to two pounds a month. All 
kaffirs are known as “boys," no matter how old they are, and if 
required to do anything, they must be addressed in that form 
“boy." Those engaged in rickshaw pulling do not live long, owing 
to the effect of this mode of living on their lungs. They run on 
their toes and can balance a car with their weight in the most 
remarkable manner, going down a hill. Owing to the vast quan- 
tity of mining refuse in powder form, piled up in enormous 
quantities, adjacent to the mines in Johannesburg, makes it a 
very bad location for those effected with weak lungs, as when 
the winds from the North or East blow this fine powdered mate- 
rial through the streets, it makes a very bad condition for per- 
sons who are susceptible to pneumonia or other lung diseases. 
Johannesburg is certainly a marvelous city and notwithstanding 
its ups and downs can be called the premier city of South Africa. 

12 


We now take train for Pretoria, the capital of the former Trans 
\ aal Republic, and ai rive there within a few hours. 

Pretoria. 

Pretoria is at least 10,000 miles from New York, and yet 
its accommodations, streets, churches and public buildings are 
equal to any city of its size in the world. The Government build- 
ing is located on the main Square of the town, and when the 



A JINRICKSKA IN JOHANNESBURG, 
writer was there, the Union Jack was flying from the flag staff, 
which meant that the great British Empire had succeeded in 
annexing the two smaller republics of Orange Free State and 
the Trans Vaal, but not until it had cost the British Empire 
foui hundred million pounds sterling and sixty thousand lives 
to crush the doughty Dutchmen who had been the pioneers in 

13 


this far off country. It is a melancholy sight to see the old home 
of Paul Kruger, now used as a Hotel and to contemplate that 
this wonderful man, rightly or wrongly, prevented the great 
British Army from entering the City of Pretoria until they had 
brought 225,000 men to capture or kill 65,000 men of the Orange 
Free State and the Trans Vaal Republic. It must be taken into 
consideration also that these republics ceased to exist, because 
the great republic of the Western Hemisphere in permitting ship- 
ments of contraband of war, mules and horses, did everything in 
its power to help the British Government annihilate these small 
republics of the dark continent. The British people to-day, fully 
realize that they bought a white elephant and were misled into a 
cruel and unjustified war through the misrepresentations and 
trickery of a few mine owners of Johannesburg, and yet these 
men refused to pay their just assessment of the war after the 
British flag flew at Pretoria. In addition to this, the business 
men of South Africa were ruined by the competition of their 
own government. Very few remember that the terms of peace 
with the Boers was three million pounds sterling repatriation 
money, but which was never fully distributed, as the cost accord- 
ing to the records was almost one million pounds to distribute 
the first million compensation money. The House of Lords 
appointed a committee to investigate this enormous graft of 
British Army officers, but before the committee arrived in South 
Africa, in some way or other, the Store House in which the 
records were kept was destroyed by fire, so that no evidence 
could be had. The British government with good intent pur- 
chased 25,000 plows and 25,000 harrows to be distributed among 
the farming community, and these goods were to be sold at cost 
to the farmers. As a matter of fact, however, the writer learned 
that plows costing $5.00 were sold to the Boer farmers for 
$17.50, which certainly did not comport with the British Govern- 
ment's idea of charity. The Boer farmers as a consequence, 
refused to buy the harrows and they were piled up in ware- 
houses in Pretoria to be sold for junk, when the writer was in 
Johannesburg. It may be a coincidence that the plows were 
bought in the United States, and the harrows in England and 
Canada, and possibly the country of origin had something to do 
with the Boers refusing to use the harrows, but the outrageous 
treatment which the Boer farmers received through the distribu- 

14 



Going Ashore in Surf Basket. 

ness selling supplies to the Boers at a fair margin of profit. We 

now return to Cape Town to go on board our ship and continue 
our trip around Africa. 

Around the Dark Continent. 

A\ e ai 1 i\ e back in Cape Town, and after arranging tickets 
and baggage, go on board the German East African Line 
Steamer, Koenig, which is to carry us from the Cape to Cairo, 

15 


ti°n of the Repatriation money had more to do with this unfor- 
tunate condition than anything else. The merchants of South 
Africa weie ruined by this policy of the British Government as 
the rascals in the service of the government sold other supplies 
at one half their cost, so as to lay their hands on the money, and 
indirectly prevent the mei chants carrying on a legitimate busi- 



a very interesting trip. This Company has a subsidized line of 
steamers, which leave Hamburg, and go around Africa. After 
leaving Cape Town, and just before rounding the Cape of Good 
Hope, we pass what is known as False Bay, so named because ap- 
parently it is a fine harbor, but very shallow. Rounding the Cape 
of Good Hope is a magnificent sight, especially in stormy weather, 
and many a ship has gone down to the deep in trying to escape the 
violent storms, and cross currents found here. The passengers 
on board the German Steamers are naturally mostly Germans, 
and a very enterprising class of people. In fact, you will find 
the Germans in every place that is of any commercial value, as 
they seem to make a special study of developing their foreign 
trade, and are given every possible assistance by the German 
Government. The subsidized steamer that we travelled on, car- 
ried freight from Hamburg around Africa at 50% less than the 
same goods are shipped from the United States, which, in itself, 
explains why the Yankees have such a small proportion of the 
trade of South Africa. With the exception of food stuffs and 
agricultural implements, our trade with South Africa is practi- 
cally nil. South Africa has a great future, but what the States 
need there are experienced consuls and proper transit facilities, 
as well as fair trade relations. These can only be secured by the 
new minimum tariff. 

We arrive at Port Elizabeth, one of the great trading Sta- 
tions of South Africa. The bullock-carts of the Boer farmers 
and of the merchants carry goods to the interior from here. The 
shipping carried on here is enormous, but the docking facilities 
very poor, as the harbor is not protected. AVe pass along the 
coast to East London, and go ashore through the aid of what is 
known as the Surf Basket, as it is almost impossible to go over 
the side of the ship by ladder, owing to the high seas. The 
passengers are transferred to lighters in baskets. East London 
is situated very high up, and the streets are well laid out, with 
excellent Hotels. Here, all of the great trading houses have 
their principal offices, and an enormous business is carried on 
with the interior. AVe leave East London and skirt along the 
coast to our next stopping place, Durban. 

Durban. 

Durban is the best governed City in South Africa. The 
municipality owns its own gas works, electric plant, public baths 

16 


and trolley service,^ and all of these departments have paid and 
proved a success. The cost of gas has been reduced to a minimum 
and can be produced for one half of what is charged in America 
and without a loss. The fine town Hall constructed at a cost 
of 50,000 pounds, is the principal public building. The police 
are natives, well disciplined. The Jin-rickshaws can be seen on 
every street, and can be hired for a trifle. The natives are 



My Boy in Mozambique. 

excellent public servants, and do not require shoes, or other luxu- 
ries. The residents live on the hills, known as the Berea, and 
during the summer, this part of the town is really the only place 
to reside. After taking on coal, we now proceed up the coast 
to Delagoa Bay, to what is known as Portuguese East Africa. 
The port is known as Lourenz, Marquez. We were advised by 

17 


some of our experienced travellers to nail things down before 
we got into the port, as it is an ideal place for all kinds of sneak 
thieves, and hard characters. One of our distinguished German 
friends, a military officer, claimed that he was immune from such 
people, and took no precautions. As a result, we had not been 
tied up to the dock twenty minutes, before our intelligent Ger- 
man friend was robbed of all his valuables, and spare coin, con- 
cealed in his state-room. They have an excellent dock at this 
port for unloading steamers, as it is the main port to ship goods 
up to Pretoria and Johannesburg. There is some talk of Ger- 
many securing this port from Portugal, but it is very doubtful, 
as the British Government is not to be found napping. This port is 
the gateway to Pretoria. 

We now sail for Beira, which is a port for the interior but 
unimportant, as there are no docking facilities. The street cars 
in Beira, however, are very odd, and owing to the sandy streets, 
are pushed by natives instead of horses, as no animals could 
make head-way along such streets. Near Beira, is Chinde, which 
is not far from the mouth of the Zambesi River, the largest river 
in Africa, and as we pass along the coast at this season of the 
year, we notice this great black stream rushing out into the 
Ocean, carrying the dead vegetation, and other animal life from 
the center of Africa. It is very unhealthy along the Zambesi. 
Wild animals can be found in all parts of this section of Africa — 
lions, tigers, or any other kind, and one can have all the excite- 
ment he is looking for travelling up country from this point. 
One of our passengers came on board at Chinde, and informed 
us that the Sunday preceding, he sat on a veranda, smoking 
his pipe, when a lion walked down the main street of the village, 
and picked up his favorite dog for breakfast. 

We sail North to Mozambique in Portuguese East Africa, 
and as we enter the harbor, we see the old fort, erected 
three hundred years ago by the original settlers. We were car- 
ried ashore here on the backs of natives, and it was a very amus- 
ing experience. If the passengers weigh more than ordinary, 
two natives get on the job. There are no docks here. The 
native market is a wonderful sight and the natives carry water 
on their heads in most curious receptacles. This section of Africa 
is known for terrific cyclones, and when the writer was there, a 


18 


British wai ship ai rived in the port disabled after passing through 
one of these storms, which take the roofs off houses, and usu- 
ally kill hundreds of natives. 

German East Africa. 

The next stop of importance is Dar-Es-Laam, in German 
East Africa, one of the most beautiful spots in the whole Dark 



A Street Car in Beira. 

Continent. The German Government has erected here modern 
buildings, schools, churches, and it is in every wav a model 
colony. There is also a dry-dock here, which will hold some of 
the large coast steamers, and gun-boats. Money is of little or 
no value, and it is nothing unusual to give thirty or forty cop- 
pers to buy things which in other countries you can get for one 
copper. A curious sight here are the pets of the army officers. 

19 


They make a specialty of taming animals and the writer saw 
a young tiger used as a watch-dog. The country surrounding 
abounds with natural resources, tropical fruits and vegetation, 
and will undoubtedly be one of the richest colonies of the Ger- 
man Empire. 


Zanzibar. 

We now set sail to the North and reach the Island 
of Zanzibar, the home of the cloves. Zanzibar is one 

of the most curious places on the face of the globe. The 
Sultan’s palace is situated right near the landing place. The 
countless bazaars and quaint dress of the natives make it more 
interesting than Cairo or Constantinople. The Customs are in 
charge of the British Government and right in front of the 
palace of the Sultan can be seen his warship, sunk by the British 
Government to teach the Sultan a lesson at one time, and remind 
him and his successors that they must handle the British Gov- 
ernment with care in the future. The respect shown to the 
British Custom officers in Zanzibar is remarkable, and proves 
that the British Government knows how to handle colonies in 
Africa or elsewhere. The natives of Ceylon, India, and the adja- 
cent countries come to Zanzibar to market their wares, and the 
jewelry and beautiful specimens of work sold by these natives is 
not to be equalled in Paris or any other great City. 

The Sultan keeps a harem, in which his own wives and the 
wives of his grand-father are well taken care of, and a 
magnificent summer palace near the sea-shore, provides all the 
amusements that a Sultan could wish for. A fine Italian battle- 
ship was in the harbor, and along the East Coast of Africa can 
be seen warships and flags of all countries, with the exception 
of the United States. If an American warship should ever arrive 
off the East Coast of Africa, it would make the natives sit up 
and take notice, as very few of them know what the American 
Flag looks like. 

Theodore Roosevelt. 

We next reach Mombassa, where the Railroad runs to Lake 
Victoria, Nyanza. This is the famous Ugandi Railroad, which 
rises to an altitude for its length higher than any other Railroad 
in the world, and through a forest country. 

20 


It is here that Theodore Roosevelt landed last April and 
entered Africa as far as the Nile in the pursuit of wild game, 
and specimens for the National Museum. As far as the writer 
could ascertain at the time, he will get all that is coming to him 
in the way of a strenuous life after he reaches the shores of 
Lake A ictoria and attempts to walk or ride to the sources of 
the Nile. Disease and danger of all kind confront him, but let 
us sincerely trust that he will be able to get through safely, and 
once more get back to dear old New York and capture a few of 
the wild political tribe that he has taken such good care of in 
the past. He has done more to make America known to the 
world than any other President. 

The sights of Mombassa are the street cars about the size 
of ordinary goat-carts, the Mohammedan Mosque, and the post- 
office. Everybody seems to be busy around the post-office in 
Mombassa. The natives seem to take great delight in sending 
letters and reading replies to their friends on the public streets. 
We leave Mombassa and for the next few days sail along the 
Coast of Africa. We cross the line once more on our way North 
and in rounding the Cape, notice for the first time, savages 
running along the sea-shore, who were anxious to throw some 
poisoned arrows at us on board the ship, but to the amuse- 
ment of all, the Captain fired a few shots from the deck, and 
these wild men of the forest scampered off to their haunts behind 
the rocks. 

This section is a most desolate region, and we see nothing 
of importance except the great Cape of Guardafui, which on 
approach has a perfect resemblance to a lion at rest, as if the 
King of beasts is looking out from his favorite haunt in Africa 
upon the Indian Ocean. Our trip up the Coast so far has been 
rather pleasant. The natives on board have kept us amused, and 
it is a novel sight to watch these denizens of the desert dancing 
their native dances, and carrying on various amusements. These 
natives are hired by the Steamship Co. to wash down the decks 
in the early morning, and it is nothing unusual to see fifty or 
sixty of them on their knees, singing songs, while at work, and 
when the noon hour comes, they pray. In fact, they do this three 
times a day in true Mohammedan fashion. There is much to be 
admired in these simple people, as they live up to their religion 

21 


more so than some of their civilized Christian friends. A true 
Mohammedan native never lies or drinks intoxicating liquors, and 
while there are exceptions, the majority of them are law-abiding, 
and peaceful. They dress in calico, in fact, as little clothes on 
them as possible, on account of the excessive heat, and the hard 
labor of loading and unloading the ship. We arrive at 
Aden, the pest-hole of the near East. This is the place the 

Mohammedans go on their way to Mecca, where the prophet is. 
buried. 


The Red Sea. 

Leaving Aden, we now enter the Red Sea, the deepest 
body of water of its size in the world, and at the same time, con- 
tains the most salt. W e pass through the Red Sea at the season 
of the year when cold winds from the North are just coming 
South at the approach of winter, and when half way through 
the Red Sea, it becomes necessary for us to change our clothing 
from the lightest possible summer to the heaviest winter wear, 
as within twenty-four hours, the temperature drops at least forty 
degrees. W e pass desolate looking Islands in the Red Sea on 
which are light houses erected by the Egyptian Government,, 
and we are informed by one of the officers of the ship that it 
becomes necessary to change the keepers of these light houses 
every six months, as many of them went insane owing to the 
heat and the miserable Islands they were compelled to live upon. 
Arriving at Suez, at the entrance to the Suez Canal, we are 
passed rapidly through quarantine by the British Army Officers, 
and here take train for Cairo, the half way house of the world, 
where we intend to spend at least one week in visiting the won- 
derful places of interest in this, one of the oldest cities in the 
world. 

It has been said that he who has not seen Cairo, has not 
seen the world, and as we journey about through different sec- 
tions of the City, visiting the curious places and bazaars, we 
become fully convinced of this fact. Every move is a picture 
in Cairo. Along the main street, you will find the most peculiarly 
dressed men and women, and foreigners from all sections of the 
world, who have come to enjoy themselves, also donkeys, carts 
and all kinds of vehicles. All appear at the same time. Nobody 
seems to work in Cairo, at least the male sex of the community 

22 




have a continuous round of joy, as the women folks support 
them. These men can be seen sitting out-side of the numerous 
cafes, drinking coffee, and holding conversations practically all 
day long. The women have a peculiar dress, and the different 
castes of society are shown in the different styles of head-gear 
used. Under the Mohammedan form of government, no man is 
permitted to look on the face of a wife except her husband, and 
until a woman is married, she is also considered private property, 
and not subject to the public gaze. The Arabian women are cer- 
tainly as fine specimens of their race as can be found in any 
country, in fact, while in the Western World, women are placed 
upon pedestals, and dressed in all the fineries, the women in the 
East seem to take more delight in looking after their physical 
development, and conduct themselves in a simple and proper 
manner, without any fine feathers making fine birds. They dress 
in the simplest possible form, and are as faithful to their mar- 
riage vows, as any other women notwithstanding the general 
impression, prevailing, regarding the virtues of the women of 
the streets of Cairo, that we hear so much about. As we drive 
about Cairo, we notice the magnificent hotels, built for the 
winter season, when all the gayety and beauty of Europe are 
stopping there. The public buildings and palaces are all owned 
by the Khedive, in fact, the Khedive seems to own everything. 
If you ask a native who owns this large building, or that, he 
will answer the Khedive, and finally if you ask him who owns 
himself, he will say “The Khedive." The Khedive is not a bad 
sort of fellow after all. He rides around Cairo in a plain demo- 
cratic manner, dressed like a European, and the only point of 
distinction is the little red turban that he wears. 

Cairo. 

One of the great sights of Cairo is the Nile Bridge, which 
opens and closes twice a day to allow traffic to pass, and a remark- 
able sight here is to watch the caravans coming in from the 
desert, a train of fifty to one hundred camels, heavily loaded 
with the products of the East. A curious sight in Cairo is to 
watch the school master, teaching school on the street corners. 
The children sit around and the teacher conducts his class 
throughout the day, apparently oblivious to all surrounding ob- 
jects. There are professional letter writers in Cairo, and those 

23 


who cannot write, come to these people, and have them attend to 
their correspondence. It is needless to say that they treat all 
matters in confidence, no matter if it be a love-letter or a lawyer’s 
affidavit. You can buy anything you think of in the bazaars in 
Cairo from a stick pin to a tapestry. 

When a wedding takes place in Cairo, the public are invited 
at the expense of the family, and carriages containing the bridal 
party are escorted through the streets by criers, announcing to 
the populace the charms of the bride, and the history of the 
bride-groom. The same custom prevails when any persons of 
distinction ride about Cairo in carriages, as they have their own 
criers in front of their carriages, requesting the public to get 
out of the way, and let them pass. The coffee houses in Cairo 
are centers for the gossips, and every subject under the sun is 
discussed there, in fact, all questions of religion, diplomacy, etc., 
are finally settled over the native cup of coffee. While the Khe- 
dive is supposed to be the ruler of Cairo and Egypt, in reality, 
the British Government rules, as the Suez Canal is quite near, 
and the Egyptian people are practically vassals of the King. 
The Citadel is situated on the top of one of the high hills in 
Cairo, and here can be found the British garrison, looking down 
with contentment upon the City of Cairo, with their guns point- 
ing in the right direction, and ready to blow the City to pieces 
in a moment’s notice if necessary. The great Mosque is situated 
on top of this hill, and all strangers must remove their shoes and 
put on special slippers, before walking on the precious floor of 
the Mosque. 

The street-cleaning department in Cairo is a joke. The water 
carts of the City consist of natives carrying bags made out of 
the skins of animals, and looking more like bagpipes than any- 
thing else. With these they sprinkle the streets, and sing songs 
at the same time. We journey the next day across the City 
over the Nile Bridge, and take trolley car right to the foot of 
the pyramids. This electric road is equal to any electric road in 
the States, and a delightful view of the surrounding country can 
be had. We pass the National Museum, erected by the Egyptian 
Government at great cost, and the Museum is equal if not supe- 
rior to the Museum of Natural History in New York City, of 
which we hear so much. In this Museum, can be found some 
of the oldest curiosities in the world, and in one department 

24 


are the mummies of the Kings and other celebrities, who died 
thousands of years ago, and are fairly well preserved through 
the wonderful embalming process of the Egyptians. The pyra- 
mid of Cheops, which is known to every school boy, is about 440 
feet high at the apex, and the natives, for a small consideration, 
will climb up and down this pyramid in less than ten minutes, 
which would require an ordinary person about one hour. The view 
from the top of the pyramid is magnificent. Away on one side 
can be seen the great Desert of Saharra. On the other side, the 
Nile River, which without doubt equals any river in Africa. The 
City of Cairo can be seen in the distance and within a short 
walk from the foot of the pyramid, can be reached the sphinx, 
a monument erected by the Egyptians for the tombs of the pha- 
raohs. It is rather difficult to view the pyramid unless from a 
camel’s back, as the natives have a system of following visitors 
and annoying them from the moment they come within sight of 
the pyramid, and get away again. These people make a specialty 
of begging, and will use all kinds of excuses to work upon the 
sympathetic tourists. 

The Pyramids. 

Begging is an art in Egypt, the same as in Italy, and they 
have schools for beggars, where they are properly instructed 
how to reach the pocket-books of any unsusceptible person. They 
also sell souvenirs, which they say were taken from the tombs 
of the Ancients, and curiosities, of all descriptions, “made in 
Germany” or Connecticut, made to look old, such as coins, etc. 
When you give a tip in Egypt, you must also give another tip, 
known as baksheesh or a lucky coin. This is supposed to be in 
addition to the regular tip, and will bring luck to the fool who 
parts with his money, as in the days of old. Having visited the 
tombs of the pharaohs and other places of interest, we finally 
shake off the gang of grafters, who are found by the legion in 
this vicinity, and wend our way back to the trolley car to try 
and reach a Christian man’s country once more. We get back 
to Cairo just before dinner, and meet once more the sons of 
rest, hanging around the hotels, and who do absolutely nothing 
but beg, borrow or steal any loose change that is around. Every 
second man in Cairo is a guide, and each guide claims that he 
knows more than the other fellow, consequently, if you wish to 

25 


be friendly to the natives, and not make enemies, you should 
promptly decide to become your own guide, as the cab driver is 
the best guide after all. These people can tell a stranger at sight, 
and are not a bit bashful in walking right up and shaking hands 
with you, and they can tell your past, present and future in five 
minutes, as every other one makes a study of the stars or some 
other occult science. The Orient is the home of the mind readers, 
fortune tellers, and light fingered gentry in general. It is a wise 
precaution, when these gentlemen of easy virtue attempt to read 
your fortune from the cards or by any manipulation of their 
arms, to nail things down, and see that your watch and money 
are well secured. 

We leave Cairo with much regret and proceed on our way 
to Alexandria by train. The fast service between Cairo and 
Alexandria is excellent, and we reach Alexandria in a few hours. 
W e leave Alexandria the same night, as there is nothing of in- 
terest there but the summer palace of the Khedive, and the great 
light house. Going on board one of the excellent steamers of the 
North Deutsch Lloyd, we book passage to Naples. Our steamer 
sails the next morning, and passing along the shores of North 
Africa, we soon sail Northwest in the direction of the Straits 
of Messina. We pass the Volcano of Stromboli in eruption and 
at its foot can be seen the little Italian villages which some day 
or other will be wiped out of existence as has happened in the 
past. The following Sunday morning we enter the beautiful 
Strait of Messina, and on each side can be seen the cities recently 
destroyed by earth-quake, over two hundred thousand human 
beings swept into eternity, and the Cities completely destroyed. 
On our left, we see in the distance Mt. Etna, with its snow cap- 
ped peak, and smoke coming out of the top. Leaving the Straits, 
we now travel North in the direction of Naples, and soon 
enter the Bay of Naples. 

The Bay of Naples. 

We have often heard that it is necessary to see Naples 
and die, and it seems as far as we could observe this 
desolate winter morning entering Naples, that we would be 
a' fit subject for the undertaker. We had pictured the 

Bay of Naples in all its beauty as we had read about it in books, 
with gondolas floating about in the Bay and Italian Troubadours 

26 



playing sweet tunes on their mandolins in the early morning, but 
we certainly were disappointed. The Bay of Naples itself is a 
beautiful sheet of water, and well situated. If the scene is taken 
from one of the hill tops surrounding the City, it might captivate 
the eye, but its close proximity to the City of Naples, with all 
the filth and poverty of its inhabitants certainly makes it appear 
to be a nice oil-painting with a very poor frame. The beggars 
in Naples are numerous, and the disgraceful condition permitted 


Caused By An Earthquake. 

by the Italian Government ; the neglect of the crippled, etc., spoils 
any efifect that the beautiful Bay of Naples may have on your 
vision when entering the harbor. The graft of the custom house 
officials is notorious, and it usually costs more to get to your 
Hotel, than it does to get out of it. The slums of Naples 

27 


are 


one of the most horrible sights that can be seen anywhere, and 
the vicious class are given full sway in certain sections of the 
City. \ ice is rampant and every other night some gambling 
brawl results in the death of one or two of the players. The 
drives about Naples away from the City proper, are delightful, 
and one can visit the Cities of Pompeii, the National Museum, 
Aquarium and some of the churches, spending a very interest- 
ing day. 

The board of health, however, might get busy in the city 
parts, and in the churches as well as in the slums. Competition 
is a good thing, and if the clergy in Italy had a little more com- 
petition, they might look after their churches, and have more 
Christianlike and sanitary conditions prevailing in their midst. 

It is. safe to assert that some of the churches have not been 
cleaned or painted in one hundred years, and the ringing of 
bells, continually on Sundays has become more of a nuisance than 
a necessity as the years go by. If the churches in the States 
adopted the same plan as some of the churches in Europe, the 
congregations would fast disappear. The Galleria in Naples is 
the central spot in the City, and here on Saturdays and Sundays, 
can be seen men of the more respectable class, promenading. We 
are informed by our Steamship friends that we must start the 
next morning for Madeira, and the next day are on our way to 
the Straits of Gibraltar, completing our circuit around Africa. 
We pass close to the coast of Algiers and see Morocco, which 
is situated directly opposite Gibraltar. 

Secretary Elihu Root, of the State Department, made a 
tour three years ago around South America, similar to the one 
we are about to take. If the States could send out men like 
Root occasionally, it would do more to stimulate trade with the 
Republics of South America than any other known means. The 
destinies of the South American Republics lie more in the hands 
of this great Diplomat than any other person connected with the 
American Government to-day, and with men like Taft and Root 
in the control of the government, men who have travelled 
extensively in foreign countries, the outlook for our foreign 
trade is exceedingly bright just now. The new maximum and 
minimum tariff gives them an opportunity to develop it. 

Off to South America. 

Setting sail from Madeira on the steamer Amazon of 
the Royal Mail Route, we now journey once more to the 

28 


South in the direction of the coast of Brazil, as far as the Island 
of St. \ incent. On board, everybody enjoys themselves as 
usual. In the South Seas, the weather is very fine. With danc- 
ing on deck every night, and games of all kinds during the day- 
tune, a delightful time is usually had. The Captain arranges 
for these pastimes by selecting a committee from among the 
passengers. \\ e arrive at St. Vincent within a few days after 



Natives of Brazil. 

leaving Madeira. This Island used as a coaling station is 
one of the principal cabling stations of the world, as cables trans- 
mitting messages to South America and South Africa pass 
through here. The Spanish Fleet sent out by Spain to annihilate 
the American Squadron off Cuba ten years ago stopped here on 
its way to Cuba and from what we could learn, they were very 

29 


enthusiastic and confident of an easy victory over the Yankees. 
As we all know now they were handicapped by their poor guns, 
and want of practice, and went down to defeat after a brave re- 
sistance against great odds. St. Vincent is not a very choice place 
to live in. It is a rather desolate Island, and absolutely without 
places of amusement or recreation with the possible exception of 
a game of cricket, when some steamer comes into port. Leaving 
St. Vincent, we are now on the briny deep for at least a week 
before sighting any land. Our approach to the coast of South 
America is marked by the Island of Fernando, an Islet off 
the coast of Brazil, after crossing “The Line" once more. The 
next day we arrive at Pernambuco, the first stopping place in 
the great republic of Brazil. Wry few people are aware that 
Brazil is larger than the United States, although in population, it 
has only one-fourth as many inhabitants. 

South America for centuries, belonged to Spain, and for this 
period the Spanish Government permitted no immigration, except 
from Spain to this large section of the world. As a result, South 
America is entirely Spanish to-day, and it is only in recent years 
that foreigners are permitted to go there and settle or hold prop- 
erty in their names. This came about since the Southern half 
of the Western Hemisphere was divided up into republics. Per- 
nambuco consists of two cities, the old and the new. The new 
section is situated across the river which runs between the two 
cities. All of the principal streets in Pernambuco have arches 
across them. The tram cars in Pernambuco are rather anti- 
quated. We were informed before our arrival at Pernambuco 
to look out for sharks, and as a result some of our passengers 
were up bright and early with their hook and line, looking for 
these monsters of the deep, but as far as we could observe the 
only sharks at this season of the year that we could find were 
on shore, and we had to be very careful with our money while 
they were about. The American Consul has an office situated 
near the wharf inside the reef which protects the City of Per- 
nambuco, permitting vessels of certain tonnage to go inside. On 
the coast near Pernambuco is the place first sighted by Americo 
Vespuci, who discovered the main land of North and South 
America. Pernambuco is noted for its sugar-mills, and other 
industries. We leave Pernambuco the next morning and sail- 


30 


\ng along the coast of Brazil reach Bahia, beautifully situated 
on the Bay of Bahia. 

Bahia has an upper and lower town, and the upper town is 
as clean and modern as any City of its size in the Western Hemi- 
sphere. \ on reach the upper town through what is known as 
tower elevators, and one of these towers for many years had 
an elevator oiled with castor-oil and as a result is known as the 
castor-oil tower. The smell in consequence inside the tower 
was unbearable and at last the natives discovered that they could 
use other lubricants. The streets in the lower town are in a 
frightful condition and it is almost impossible to walk on them. 
The heat in Bahia is terrific, and at some seasons of the year 
it is impossible to walk about during certain hours of the day 
without being sunstruck. The street venders in Bahia sell every- 
thing from a needle to an anchor. They take their nap regularly 
during the hot part of the day so that it is nothing unusual to 
see a dozen of them fast asleep upon the public streets with their 
wares alongside of them. The upper town is up-to-date. Ameri- 
can trolley cars and excellent rides can be had to points of inter- 
est. The view of the Bay from the upper City is magnificent. 
Money is of little or no value in Bahia, or for that matter in all 
Brazil. Everything is sold by the reis. It takes 16,000 reis to 
equal $5*00 “American” so that if a party wants to buy a hat 
or a pair of shoes, the price marked in the window would stag- 
ger him. The hat might be marked 20,000 dollars as a dollar- 
sign means reis. It simply means the hat is worth $7.50, Ameri- 
can or thereabout. The paper money of Brazil is very poor, 
and some of the currency has to be pasted or pinned together. 
Our next stop along the coast is the largest City in Brazil, Rio 
de Janeiro. 

Rio de Janeiro. 

We enter the harbor of Rio, one of the finest in the world 
with sugar-loaf mountain on one side and high hills on the other. 
We had the new ambassador from the United States to Brazil, 
Mr. Dudley, on board, (an experienced diplomat) and a salute 
was fired from the forts, situated on an Island in the Bay, the 
stars and stripes flew from the foremast and was dipped and 
acknowledged. The view as we enter the harbor is beyond de- 
scription and must be seen to be appreciated. We pass a little 

31 


Island which has a resemblance to a whale asleep on the water. 
We feel certain that it would require at least two weeks to see 
Rio properly, and in the few days we were there confined our- 
selves to the Avenida, the main thoroughfare, and the public 
buildings. The new Opera House, situated on one end of the 
Avenida, is one of the finest constructed buildings of its kind 
in the world. The new Avenida cost millions of dollars, and 

along its promenade on an afternoon can be found the Elite 
of the City. The City of Rio provides immense fountains for 

the people, and all its hospitals and charitable institutions are 
first-class in every way. The newspapers in Rio are as good as 
those in New York or London and have their own sky-scrapers, 
in fact, Rio is putting up sky-scrapers as large as in first-class 
cities in the States. Rio, like Bahia, was known for years as a 
pest-hole where all kinds of contagious disease carried off the 
population in hundreds, now, however, the sanitary conditions of 
these cities is Ai, and any one is perfectly safe travelling in Bra- 
zil and stopping as long as he pleases at either of these places. 
An excellent trolley car service here permits one to visit the 
remote parts of the City for a trifle. The police force is excel- 
lent, the army well disciplined, and equal in every respect to any 
other army of its size in the world. A custom with the Brazil- 
ian people is to have the Pope's coat-of-arms on their home when 
they construct a new house. They are very religious people, at 
least the women, but as in all Spanish countries the men do little 
if any praying; in fact, on Sundays it is a curiosity to see any 
man at church. Sugar-loaf mountain, situated at the entrance 
to the Bay, is a point of interest that should not be overlooked. 
It is an old story that at one time a British Marine erected a 
British flag on this mountain, and the Brazilians could not get 
it down until some clever Yankee came along, went up to the 
top of the mountain and threw the Union Jack into the Sea. We 
must take this story with a grain of salt, however. Brazil has 
a navy at the present time, of little if any use. If this great re- 
public brings out the dreadnoughts now building in England and 
holds on to them instead of selling same to England or any other 
country it will have a few ships to be reckoned with in the fu- 
ture. The main export of Brazil is coffee, and over ninety million 
dollars’ worth of this product is shipped to the United States 
alone. It is a crying shame, however, that the States only sell 


Brazil about sixteen million dollars’ worth a year, as Brazil ob- 
tains ninety million of good American gold, and spends two-thirds 
of it in Europe, especially in Portugal. Agriculture is the main- 
stay of Brazil, and when this marvelous country is fully opened 
up, it will equal if not surpass the Argentine in exports. The 
imports of tooth-picks into Brazil from the States shows an 
enormous increase, and if the consumption of these articles is 



The Opera House in Rio. 

any indication of the capacity of the people for food stuffs, the 
possibilities are that the States will sell them more and more of 
this class of goods in the future. The Brazilians, in fact, all 
Spanish people, make a specialty of their meals, and consume 
more food and drink, than any other class of people on the face 
of the globe. ‘'Live to eat’’ instead of “Eat to Live 1 ’ seems to 

83 


be their motto, and it is nothing unusual for an ordinary Spanish 
American to get away with ten courses at dinner, two bottles of 
wine and then lay down to a siesta for a few hours to help his 
weak digestion. They look over the ordinary bill of fare in a 
hotel and then turn over the back to see if there is any more. 

A funeral in Brazil is a great event, and when a person is 
dead, his friends as well as his enemies all get in line and make 
a great time over the deceased. The decorations of the hearse 
are simply grand, and fortunes are spent on the ordinary funeral 
of one of the rich Brazilians. Strange to say, we found little 
or no beggars in Brazil. The poorest of the poor manage to eke 
out a living selling or buying some articles pf dress or food. 
The Custom-House in Rio, however, is very poor and the num- 
ber of porters, a regular nuisance to a new arrival. Across the 
Bay on the highland is located Petropolis, the home of the am- 
bassadors and higher class of Brazilians. The Monroe Palace, 
shown at the St. Louis Exhibition, has been taken to Rio and 
erected on one end of the Avenida, in testimony of the love of 
the Brazilian people for the great republic of the North, which 
they look upon as their protector and best friend. We decided 
to allow our steamer to proceed to Santos, where we intend to 
connect with it after our visit to S. Paulo. We leave Rio by 
train, and arrive the next morning at S. Paulo, the home of the 
coffee kings, a modern city in every way and well situated. S. 
Paulo is supposed to be for its size the richest city in the world, 
and it has a Railroad Station, equal if not superior to any. The 
sanitary arrangements in S. Paulo are perfect. The water sup- 
ply is filtered and the public buildings first-class. The Opera 
House in S. Paulo just completed is similar to the one in Rio, 
and in some respects, superior. Near S. Paulo is situated the 
National Museum of Brazil on the site of Independence Hill, 
where Brazil secured its first breath of liberty. Curiosities of 
all kinds can be found here and priceless collections of the 
Aboriginies of Brazil. The magnificent homes of the wealthy 
people in S. Paulo are worth seeing, but that virtue has its own 
reward, does not seem very fitting in S. Paulo, as the most noto- 
rious woman in the town has the finest residence. They know 
how to charge for baggage on the Railroads in Brazil, and it 
costs more to send baggage than it does passengers. We could 
not understand why this was so, except that the ordinary Bra- 

q 1 

o4fc 


zilian when he goes travelling brings all his house-hold furniture 
with him, or other unnecessary things. The wonderful mountain 
Railroad from S. Paulo to the Sea cost more than any other Rail- 
road of its size in the world. S. Paulo, being situated very high 
up on the Mountain, it is one of the sights of the world to ride 
down on this mountain Railroad from S. Paulo to Santos. We 
took advantage of this opportunity, and in a few hours arrived 
at Santos where our steamer was awaiting us to continue our 
trip along the coast of Brazil towards Buenos Aires. Santos is 
the great coffee shipping port of Brazil and at one time was a 
pest-hole for yellow-fever and bubonic plague, but is to-day as 
clean a city as can be found in South America. We leave San- 
tos and skirting along the coast for a few days, pass the cities 
of Rio Grande and other cities where the German Colony set- 
tied. In fact, the whole of South Brazil is controlled by Ger- 
mans and some day, it is feared they will assert themselves and 
look to the home country to take over the German Colony in 
South America. If such should happen, the Monroe Doctrine 
will have its test, and unless the United States is well prepared 
to maintain its supremacy, Germany will throw the Monroe 
Doctrine in the waste-basket and begin to colonize South America, 
which she already practically owns. 

We next stop at Uruguay, a little republic situated below 
Brazil. Its chief City, Monte Video, presents itself to our view. 
This little republic is trying to do the best it can, securing its 
share of the world’s trade, but being situated between the two 
great republics, Brazil and Argentine, some day or other, it may 
have to join one or the other to maintain its position. The cur- 
rency here is gold, and a gold dollar in Uruguay, strange to say, 
is worth more than the gold dollar of the United States. Near 
this City of Monte Video is the mouth of the widest river in 
the world, the river Plate, and we journey up this great river as 
far as the City of Buenos Aires, the largest and finest City in 
all South America. 

Buenos Aires. 

Buenos Aires is a City of over one million inhabitants and 
has made more head-way in the last twenty years than any other 
City in the world. Its magnificent squares, public buildings and 
promenades are alone greatly to be admired. The cost of liv- 

85 


in g in Buenos Aires, however, is enormous as the country does 
not produce anything except agricultural products. You can 
pay ten dollars gold for a pair of shoes in Buenos Aires, and 
the same amount for a hat, that you can get at home for five 
dollars, but these people make money so easily and in such enor- 
mous quantities that they never stop to think of the cost of any- 
thing. They are born gamblers .in business as well as in pleas- 
ures and the main stay of the Government, as in Brazil, is the 
Lottery. Everybody gambles in Buenos Aires from the street 
merchant up, and you can hear the click of the roulette or the 
shake of the dice box more in Buenos Aires than in any other 
City. Everybody goes to the race-track in Buenos Aires, and 
bets the last penny they possess on a horse race. They have one 
of the finest race-tracks in the world. A private monopoly, 
known as the Jockey Club, controls it and pays the Government 
and charitable Institutions a certain percentage of the profits. It 
costs over one thousand dollars to join the Club, and it is con- 
sidered one of the swellest organizations on the face of the globe. 
Between the Lottery and the race-track, the ordinary person in 
Buenos Aires has little if any money left for other pleasures. 
This City has the finest trolley system in South America, and its 
banks vie with any other banks in size as well as in scope. They 
have a zoo in Buenos Aires, situated near Belgrano, and we no- 
ticed that the American eagle was there in all its glory in one 
of the cages with his name properly advertised, as the “Yankee 
Eagle." He seemed to be there as a gentle reminder to the Argen- 
tines not to brush his feathers in the wrong direction. He looked 
every inch the part of the country he represented. The Argentine 
people are not as fond of the United States as they might be, 
and no one really knows why this is so, unless it be the prepon- 
derance of European capital, which practically owns the country. 
The new House of Congress, similar to our House in Washing- 
ton, was just nearing completion. It is situated at the end of 
the Avenida. We saw little if any beggars in Buenos Aires, and 
the police force in some respects is superior to that in New York. 
The Sergeants of Police make their rounds on horses, and every 
patrolman must be on his beat and sign his name at certain 
periods during the day. Owing to the number of British resi- 
dents in the Argentine, afternoon tea is the great repast, and 
thousands of people can be seen at the cafes during the busy 

86 


part of the day drinking their tea and talking. These people 
seem to get along better than Americans even if they do lose 
valuable time, drinking tea or coffee, two or three hours a day. 
Everybody carries a revolver in Buenos Aires or some other 
weapon, not so much for use as custom in case they are “called” 
by some one. It is an amusing sight to see these people when 
they get in a dispute, as they will talk over an hour and appar- 
ently fight but never use their fists. The revolver is the final 
arbiter, and it is always advisable to keep as far away from them 
as possible when they reach this part of the argument. The 
proper form of greeting in this country, as in all Spanish coun- 
tries, is good-bye instead of good-morning. Why this is, we 
could not find out. A cruel custom in Buenos Aires is whipping 
horses, as owing to the level streets in the City, this is entirely 
unnecessary. In fact, these people seem to be very cruel towards 
all animals, and the sight of blood is very pleasing to them. 
A beautiful sight in the Suburbs in Buenos Aires are the wind- 
mills, thousands of which are in operation, making a very 
fascinating effect. The army in Argentine is a joke, and sadly 
in need of clothes of the proper military style. They have great 
strikes in Buenos Aires, on account of the mixture of population. 
People from the States are called “Yankees” and from what we 
could ascertain, the majority of Yankees who come down to 
the River Plate are usually dreaded by the natives, as in common 
with other countries the United States does not send out its 
best class of representatives to this foreign land. 

We take advantage of our stay in Buenos Aires to visit La 
Plata, the capital, situated a short distance, as fine a City as 
Buenos Aires in public buildings. Bahia Blanca, situated south 
of Buenos Aires, is the great wheat shipping port for the Argen- 
tine, and the marvelous development of this City in the past few 
years proves without a doubt that it will become a greater fac- 
tor in the future, as a shipping point, than Buenos Aires. A short 
distance from Buenos Aires to the North is located the City of 
Rosario, the largest port for the exportation of cereals in gen- 
eral, but more corn is shipped out of this port than any other 
place in the Argentine Republic. We are now about ready to 
start on our trip across the Andes, and the next morning go on 
board one of the first class passenger coaches of the Pacific Rail- 

37 


road and settle down to our ride across the Pampas to the foot 
of the Andes Mountains. As we journey along across this hat 
country directly west, we are given an opportunity to view the 
vast possibilities of this wonderful agricultural country of South 
America. Mile after mile we pass through immense ranches and 
on both sides of the train as far as the eye can see are hundreds 
of thousands of cattle and sheep grazing. Millions of these are 
exported every year, and are gradually driving out the export 
trade in beef and mutton from the States to the British Isles. 
There are three large “Frigorifos” where beef and mutton are 
prepared for export, and vast refrigerator ships carry these pro- 
ducts from the River Plate to England in as fit condition as from 
Chicago. The tremendous exports of Argentine in live stock 
and farm products places it, for its size, in the first position. The 
agricultural laborers of the Argentine are mostly Italians, who 
go there for a short period, accumulate a little money and then 
go back to Italy, the same as they do in the United States. 
They make excellent farm laborers, however, and are much to 
be preferred to the native who never believes in working when 
his health is good. The next morning we arrive at Mendoza, 
near the foot of the Andes Mountains, and here transfer to the 
Narrow-gauge Railroad, to carry us to the summit of this vast 
chain of mountains which separates, like a wall, the Argentine 
and the Republic of Chili. In Mendoza, an excellent wine is 
produced from the grapes growing in that vicinity, in fact, this 
section of the Argentine is given up to the cultivation of vine- 
yards. 

Across the Andes. 

Within an hour, after our arrival in Mandoza we are on 
board the narrow-gauge road and start on our journey to the 
summit of the Andes, known as the Cumbre. As we pass along 
the narrow road-way through the mountains we are all enthusi- 
asm on account of the magnificent scenery presented before us. 
The scene from the Railroad cars is really beyond description. 
The course of the road lays along side the river bed which at 
this season of the year, March, was almost completely dried up. 
During the rainy season it is a whirl pool of rushing waters from 
the top of the mountains right down to the valley. Our pas- 
sengers are kept busy viewing from one side of the car or the 

38 


other the different views presented. In the distance we can see 
the Giant Aconcagua 23,000 feet high, supposed to be the highest 
mountain in the Andes. This mountain is covered with eternal 
snow. One of our passengers, a Frenchman, immediately got 
ready his heavy winter clothing, and we were somewhat amused 
to find him fully rigged up fit for a voyage to the North Pole 
shortly afterwards. It seems he was informed that crossing the 



Crossing the Andes. 

Andes was like a trip to Iceland, but as he subsequently learned 
the weather was just as mild as in France, in fact, a little warmer, 
so that he did not require his Arctic outfit. As we wend our 
way through the valleys leading up to the summit, we notice 
every mile or so, little huts constructed in a very crude fashion, 
which were used by travelers on foot who attempted to cross 

39 



the Andes before the Railroad was constructed. These places 
were used as shelter at night and are still used by some of the 
unfortunates, who cross the mountains year in and year out re- 
gardless of all modern improvements. We climb up the moun- 
tain to Las Cuevas where we stay for the night, but just before 
reaching this haven of refuge at the foot of the cumbre, our lit- 
tle engine is hard pressed to complete the journey, and for over 
a mile we proceed at a snail pace. You can form some idea of 
the height of the Andes when you take into consideration that 
we have been climbing steadily since morning and have yet to 
pass over the cumbre which is 13,000 feet above the level of the 
sea. Around and about us in this little nook at the foot of the 
cumbre, are mountains towering five to ten thousand feet above 
us, and one can fully realize the forces of nature and the insig- 
nificance of man as we stand and look about at this wonderful 
sight. We retire for the night at the little hotel and about mid- 
night, realize for the first time the drop in the temperature. It 
becomes bitterly cold after sun-set until sun-rise, and almost 
impossible to keep warm. We are called the next morning at 6 
o’clock by the guides of the mule train who during the night 
have prepared everything for our trip across the cumbre. After 
dispatching a cup of hot coffee, with our overcoats and rugs se- 
curely wrapped about us, we take our position on top of one of 
the coaches, pulled by three horses, and prepare for our journey 
across. Our luggage has been securely strapped to the mules 
who go in advance and some of our passengers of a more ven- 
turesome disposition decide to ride across on mule back. A shout 
from the chief muleteer, a crack of the whip from our experienced 
driver on the coach, and we are off. 

The pack of mules precede us at a rapid stride up the moun- 
tain until they reach a point where they can make a short cut 
and save almost one third of the distance. Here, they turn in 
and go up and up almost at an angle of forty-five degrees and 
from our position on the coaches we can readily see that they are 
going to get over the mountain ahead of us by at least one half 
hour. These wonderful and sure-footed beasts can ascend the 
mountain at a rapid pace and pass the most dangerous parts in 
the most remarkable manner. We keep to the road and winding 
our way in a zig-zag manner resting the horses about every mile, 
we gradually get to a point where we can look down on the little 

40 


hotel which now appears to be a mere hut. The sight as we jour- 
ney up is simply marvelous. The mule pack in the distance ap- 
pears to be like a hock of sheep following their leader, in fact, 
our whole out-fit appears to be a miniature affair compared to 
the colossal mountains surrounding us. It is nothing unusual for 
those not accustomed to great heights to have blood flowing from 
theii ears and nostnls at this height, and persons of a very nerv- 
ous disposition are inclined to have severe attacks, more from 
imagination than anything else. We feel secure however as 
horses as well as the the men engaged in this work are courage- 
ous, well balanced as well as experienced, and there is no danger. 
Some of our passengers got sea-sick. We reach the top in about 
011 ~ hour, and just before crossing we find erected monuments 
right on the summit. One of these is a magnificent statue of the 
Saviour, elected by the people of Argentine and Chili as an em- 
blem of peace, between the two countries. We now get a view 
of Chili, and down as far as we can see another chain of moun- 
tains appears, as high if not higher than those we passed on our 
journey from the foot of the Andes. The coaches after reaching 
the summit, start down the other side at a very fast pace, and it 
ceitainly requires considerable nerve to sit on the front seat of 
one of these coaches going at the rate of at least fifteen miles an 
houi down the mountain. The third horse on the out-fit seems 
to be the guide and knows intuitively just what is required of 
him. The mule tiain has taken the short route, and we can see 
it now half way down the mountain already. One unfortunate 
beast, howevei , in some way or other missed his footing and 
being handicapped by the luggage strapped to him rolled down, 
and as we learned afterwards was killed. As we zig-zag down 
the mountain, we notice in one enclosure about two hundred cat- 
tle w hich came over the mountain in the early morn and were 
driven to one side to allow us to pass. It is the custom to drive 
cattle by the thousands over from the Argentine into Chili for 
grazing. We go down the mountain in about half of the time 
it took to come up, and within two hours after leaving Las Cue- 
vas are safely landed at the little Railroad Station in Chili known 
as Juncal. In another year, it will not be necessary to cross the 
mountain by coach or mule back, as the Andes are now being 
pierced by a tunnel right at this point which will enable one to 
make the journey by train in twenty minutes or thereabout. 

41 


Chili. 


We are now in Chili, the home of the nitrates, a wonderful 
country stretching from the Straits of Magellan to the land of 
the Incas-Peru. The trip down from Juncal to the junction 
where we connect for the capital City of Santiago is one of the 
greatest engineering feats on the face of the globe. At times, we 
travel along a trespass, which, by the slightest break in the ma- 
chinery or defects in the road would plunge us down the great 
declivity to be dashed to death within as many minutes as it 
takes to tell. It is astounding how man can surmount the diffi- 
culties presented to him by nature and one has only to travel to 
Chili and cross the Andes to have a full conception. Going down 
the mountain in a modern railway coach through such a beauti- 
ful section is certainly a luxury. We see one sight grander than 
the other, and finally reach the foot at the little village of Los 
Andes. Here, we transfer to the main line which runs to Santi- 
ago, and in a few hours are comfortably seated in our hotel. The 
train service in Chili is Ai and we are proud to say that the cars 

«r ** 

and engines were built in the United States. Santiago is the fin- 
est City in Chili. Its public squares and public buildings equal 
any other City in South America. The railroad station of Santi- 
ago is one of the best in South America. The description of 
Santiago and of the people might coincide with Valparaiso, the 
principal port of Chili. The Cathedral in Santiago is the finest 
building of its kind in South America. The House of Deputies 
and monuments surrounding it make a magnificent sight. We 
leave Santiago the next night for Valparaiso, which was partly 
destroyed by earthquake within the past year. 

We arrive at Valparaiso and the first sight that greets our view 
is the beautiful Bay which has made this port famous the world 
over. Valparaiso is a typical City of Chili and the customs of the 
people there are certainly very novel. Everybody seems to get his 
boots blacked in Chili. We would venture to say there are more 
bootblack stands in this City than in London or New York. It 
seems to be a convenient way of passing the time for the not over- 
worked Chileans. The ordinary Chilean will never die of heart- 
failure from overwork. We had occasion to have our baggage 
carried from the Railroad Station to a hotel a few hundred feet 
away, and the Chilean we hired actually sublet the job to another 

42 


Chilean and collected the fee. The policemen in Chili are very 
fond of blowing their whistles, whether for amusement or ne- 
cessity we could not find out. Owing to the fact that Chili has 
been engaged in so many wars, and the male members of the 
population are so regardless of their health, it appears that there 
are on an average seven women to one man in Chili. Women 
are employed as conductors on the street cars, and in the post- 
offices. They are also used as masons' assistants, and to coal 
ships. The few men they have there seem to be too busy con- 
suming liquor during the greater part of the day. If it were not 
for the women, Chili would be in a very bad condition. Valpa- 
raiso is so situated that the lower town is used for business and 
the upper town for homes. Elevators are used in different parts 
of the City to carry the people up and these are patronized very 
much even by the poorer class, as the fare is quite reasonable. 
The Army in Chili is small but effective, and as far as we could 
observe every man in it is a born fighter. The soldiers are well 
drilled by German officers and in the navy, a few men from the 
States are employed. A most remarkable sight in Chili is the 
native dress. The men wear Ponchos across their shoulders and 
straw hats. One is to protect them during the hot part of the 
day, and the other to keep out the mountain dampness at night. 
The women dress with a plain black shawl, called a manta and 
this is fastened in a peculiar fashion. They wear no hats as this 
shawl is also used as a head-dress. The women are certainly as 
pretty and well formed as any of their sex in the Western Hemi- 
sphere. It is a remarkable sight to visit the churches in Chili and 
see hundreds of these women praying. They are very religious 
people, and young and old seem to spend half of their time in 
the churches. The only recreation they have, or opportunity to 
get out of the rut which they seem to have fallen into by cus- 
tom, is on the night of the Concert in the Plaza. 

Chilean Customs. 

These people are very fond of music and will promenade for 
hours. The women all march in one direction around the square, 
and the men in the opposite direction, and it is amusing to note 
how they get acquainted. If a young man in Chili sees a young 
damsel that he believes will be a fit mate for life, he must pass the 
object of his affections at least a dozen times in the Plaza, and 

43 


through some unknown way indicate his intentions. He is then 
invited to the home and continues his acquaintance in the presence 
of some member of the family. In Chili, as well as in Cuba, the 
general custom is for Romeo to play to Juliet out-side her win- 
dow, and under no circumstances must he enter the house until 
he is engaged to marry the girl or has positively declared his 
intention of so doing. It is the custom in Chili as in all Spanish 
countries for the propective groom to invite the whole family to 
the theatre or other places of amusement along with his pros- 
pective bride for life. 

The native drink of Chili is “Chicha,” made from sour grapes 
and in some sections from apples and while it is not supposed to 
be an intoxicating liquor, we were not guaranteed this and so 
partook of it lightly. The native Chilean, however, can consume 
more liquors of different hues and strength than any other Span- 
ish American. Valparaiso has two dry-docks, and they are very 
important, because the open Bay will not permit of the construc- 
tion of any ship-yards or docks of any other description, owing 
to the severe “northers” which blow in once in a while. All of 
the great commercial houses in Chili have offices in Valparaiso 
and we were astonished to find out that one house there reported 
to be an American house, employs but five Americans out of 180 
employees. This certainly does not look encouraging for Ameri- 
can prestige. The American squadron which recently visited 
South Chili, made a good effect and gave a banquet to all Ameri- 
cans in the country. Strange to say, the night of the banquet, 
only three Americans appeared, and on investigation it was found 
that there were only four in the City and one was sick. People 
from the States are called “Yankees” and foreigners in general 
are called Gringos. The feeling in Chili towards the United 
States is not what it should be, and why this is, we could not 
fully determine. It is due no doubt to the fact that the monied 
interests are English and German. This little republic on the 
west coast of South America, in close proximity to the United 
States and one of our sister republics should certainly look up 
to the United States more in the future as its best friend in the 
long run. In some ridiculous manner, an idea prevails in Chili, 
that the United States is backing Peru, and inasmuch as Peru 
and Chili came very close to a clash of arms recently, it can read- 
ily be understood why this feeling towards the United States has 

44 


I 


shown itself. In some way or other, some petty larceny thief 
stole the coat of arms off the door of the Chilean Consul in Peru, 
and the agitators in Chili, who are many, seized upon this oppor- 
tunity to make trouble between these two gallant republics of 
South America. Owing to the good offices of the United States 
and other powers, fortunately these brave people have not yet 
clashed. 

The English Club. 

In every large City in Chili can be found the English Club, 
and it was our privilege to put up at the club in each place. This 
institution is well conducted, and supported by the higher class 
in the community. As far as we could observe, every one was 
sociable and gentlemanly and if Americans would only build simi- 
lar institutions throughout Chili and South America it would re- 
dound more to their credit and prestige than allowing their young 
men to go abroad and waste time and money in more harmful 
amusements. The German banks are everywhere in Chili, and 
control considerable business, in fact, we were informed by some 
of our English friends that these German banks take up credits 
that a responsible English Institution would not touch. The gen- 
eral custom of selling goods in Chili seems to be to have the first 
payment cover the original cost or in other words sell the goods 
two or three times their cost to secure the profit. Long terms 
are given, under such circumstances and sometimes two years 
time allowed. The cost of living in Chili consequently is very 
high, and makes it very difficult for the native to accumulate any 
money. 

Everybody in Chili seems to be a politician and considerable 
time is lost in discussing political subjects, which after all, as in 
the Lnited States, are settled not by the people but by the monied 
men. Along the coast of Chili one has to nail things down as 
thieving is a well practiced art. One of our friends left his boots 
to be cleaned and they disappeared in five minutes. It is need- 
less to say that he has not seen them since. Everybody carries a 
revolver in Chili, the same as in the Argentine, and a regular 
walking arsenal can be found any day on the main streets of Val- 
paraiso. It is surprising what little news the newspapers in Chili 
have regarding the United States. They seem to give columns of 
news about other countries, and an occasional line or two regard- 

45 


in g matters of importance in the United States. This is partly 
due to the fact that the newspaper agencies in the United States 
do not cover South America properly, and naturally the news- 
papers in South America do not care to cover the United States' 
items. The Chilean navy is the finest asset that the country has. 
They have the finest war ships of any other South American 
republic, and have lately installed a wireless apparatus by which 
they can communicate from Valparaiso with the Straits of Ma- 
gellan. The Flagship O’Higgins of Irish descent while rather 
old, appeared to be equal if not superior to any ship of its size. 

Along the West Coast. 

We now take our departure from Chili at the port of Val- 
paraiso and sail for a few days along this barren desolate coast, 
which from Corral to Peru is like a desert. No vegetation of 
any kind whatever appears. We stopped at Antofagasta and Iqui- 
que, two of the great nitrate ports of Chili. These cities, how- 
ever, are pest-holes and all kinds of contagious diseases can be 
found here. It must be taken into consideration that rain has 
not fallen along the west coast in some parts for years, and that 
the water supply of these cities is brought a few hundred miles 
from the mountain regions, consequently, the scarcity of water 
and the intense heat make it very difficult to maintain any decent 
sanitary arrangements. Bolivia, situated high up on the table 
land, uses the ports of Antofagasta and Iquique and all supplies 
for this wonderful mountainous country are sent inland from this 
point. As we journey along the west coast, the sea is like a pond 
at this season of the year, and the weather is delightful. The 
temperature on the west coast is fully ten degrees cooler than the 
east coast of South America as far as we could observe. This is 
accounted for by the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, and the 
fact that the Humboldt current runs near the coast, and acts like 
the Gulf Stream, but lowers the temperature instead of raising it. 
All along the west coast can be seen sea-gulls, and other birds of 
this class by the thousands, and it was a favorite past-time with 
passengers to shoot at these birds a few hours every day. Owing 
to the Guano deposits of some of these birds, both the Chilean 
and Peruvian Governments now prohibit this. We have on board 
a doctor, representing the Peruvian Government, and he visits 
daily the passengers and keeps an eye out for the development 

46 


of any contagious disease. \\ bile this is a very wise precaution, 
it is nevertheless annoying to be submitted continually to exami- 
nation and compelled to be vaccinated just because a few of the 
natives have had, many years ago, yellow-fever or some other 
disease. Off the coast of Coquimbo, is a body of water, known 
as the Seven Seas, and a very dangerous spot. The approach to 
Coquimbo makes it appear that the land is covered with snow in 
this warm country. As a matter of fact, however, it is only due 
to the peculiar deposits thrown up by nature at this point. Very 
few persons are aware that off the coast of South America is 
situated the little Island made famous by the story of Robinson 
Crusoe, and whether this bold mariner was a myth or not, the 
general appearance of the west coast would make the ordinary 
observer believe some of his escapades. The next few days we 
slowly proceed up the coast in the direction of Peru. Our pas- 
sengers consist mainly of commercial men and English men re- 
turning home by way of the Panama Canal. We have about 
thirty clergy-men on board, and one of our passengers predicted 
trouble immediately on the west coast as it is a well known sign 
that when clergy-men are traveling about from place to place, 
war is not far off. They are in a position to get inside informa- 
tion of any uprising of the people, and prepare themselves ac- 
cordingly. We were not surprised at the reported uncleanliness 
along the West coast, as out of 70 passengers, only 7 took 
a bath each morning, although we had at least a dozen first-class 
bath-rooms on board the magnificent steamer of the Pacific Line, 
which carried us as far as Panama. The natives, especially the 
lower class, are very lazy individuals, and only work when they 
are compelled to or require a little money. They seem to be 
void of all feeling towards themselves and others. We had oc- 
casion to observe some of them unloading the ship. One fell 
from the top hatch-way down to the bottom, and his companions 
only laughed at him when he was picked up with a dislocated 
shoulder. Another, a few days afterwards, sprained or dislocated 
his ankle, and informed the Captain that he would fix it himself 
in a few minutes, which he did, and resumed work as if nothing 
had happened. Our ship makes the run from Valparaiso to Pa- 
nama in twelve days. This is considered remarkable, as for- 
merly it took thirty days. Now, however, the Pacific Line main- 
tains an express service between Valparaiso and Panama, stop- 

47 


ping at only four places, and Americans going to the Argentine 
or South Chili, can save a week's time travelling via Panama, in- 
stead of via Europe. We arrive the next morning at Callao, the 
port for Lima, and in about one half hour by electric tram-way, 
reach the capital of the land of the Incas. 

Peru has been known from time immemorial as a gold coun- 
try. The marvelous tales of wealth and conquest of Peru, sound 
like the Arabian Nights. It must be remembered that when the 
Spaniards went down the west coast and captured this stronghold 
of the Incas, it required a few hundred years for them to exhaust 
the remarkable natural resources of this wonderful country. 
Treasure ships left Peru for Spain year after year loaded down 
with the most wonderful collections of gold and silver, robbed 
from the natives. Peru is the home of a great many China-men, 
and they control most of the business interests outside of mining. 
It seems, however, that the people of Peru have decided to drive 
out these celestials, and while we were in Lima, many China-men 
were killed and wounded. 

The City of Lima is one of the most interesting cities in all 
South America. The peculiar balconies on the houses as well 
as the dress of the people strike one's fancy. The oldest bull- 
ring in America is situated in Lima, built in the 17th century. 
It is a favorite past-time of these people to go to the bull fights 
on Sundays after church, and see poor beasts tormented, and 
finally put to death to gratify the thirst for blood of some of the 
population. The great cathedral in the Plaza is well worth see- 
ing. The tremendous doors of bronze and copper work represent 
the finest work of its class in the world. Earthquakes in Peru, 
as in Chili, are frequent, and very bad. Most of the churches in 
Peru and public buildings bear evidence of the strength of these 
movements of the Earth. The custom is to rush to the Plaza 
after the first shock or to get under a door-way or arch, as expe- 
rience has shown that most people are killed remaining in any 
other place. The City of Valparaiso was almost destroyed two 
years ago, by one of these earthquakes and while in Chili, we had 
an opportunity of gauging just what an earthquake is. At about 
2 o'clock in the morning, we felt two shocks, which we learned 
afterwards had come in a northerly direction from Peru to the 
Straits. Every clock stopped, and pictures on the wall as well 
as the furniture in our room began to move about. One never 

48 


knows what the second or third shock may mean, and, as stated 
before, the safest way is to run to the open park, and stay there. 
Every business enterprise in Peru has a peculiar name over the 
door. One shop, we noticed was named after the devil, vis: — “El 
Diablo,” another, a liquor shop, was called the Water Wagon. We 
presume that stronger liquids than water were sold there, judg- 
ing from the curse of rum features of some of the occupants. 



The Bull Ring in Lima. — Peru. 

\\ e leave Peru and journey along the coast towards Ecuador, but 
owing to the quarantine regulations, were not permitted to land 
at Guayaquil. The port for Ecuador is known as the worst pest- 
hole along the coast. \\ e cross the 4 ‘Line for the fourth time 
on our trip and in a few days reach Panama, which will be the 
gate- way of the world with the next few years. 


49 


The Panama Canal. 


We have at last reached the Isthmus of Panama, formerly 
called the Isthmus of Darien, destined to be one of the most im- 
portant commercial points in the world. Panama formerly be- 
longed to the Republic of Colombia but inasmuch as the patriots of 
Colombia could not agree with the United States, and allow a rea- 
sonable concession for the construction of the Panama Canal, a 
few other patriots of a more facile mind formed the new republic 
and within a very short time, gave the United States the privilege 
sought. The City of Panama consists of the old and the new, 
and from what we had read about it were indeed surprised by its 
cleanliness. The American Government has certainly worked 
wonders in this old Spanish City. The streets in Panama are 
paved with brick, and an excellent water supply has been put in 
by the Isthmus Canal Commission. The construction of the Pa- 
nama Canal is proceeding at a rapid pace and notwithstanding all 
the charges of graft, etc., a casual observer must confess that this 
stupendous undertaking is being pushed through with all the 
energy that it is possible for man or machinery to put forth. It 
would not surprise us if the Canal was completed within the next 
four years. The United States Government has provided mag- 
nificent homes for the officers as well as the men, engaged in the 
construction of this Canal. It is safe to assert that these men 
had no better homes in the United States. The climate is salu- 
brious. Contagious diseases are unknown, and with the wages 
paid, the ordinary American engaged in this work can return 
with a nice tidy sum of money, provided that he has not squan- 
dered it. The Government supplies Canal laborers from the 
commissary stores at absolute cost, and we must admit that not 
one complaint had been made as far as we could ascertain. The 
work being done under the supervision of army officers cannot 
be equalled. The work of construction is on a military basis 
and the amount of dirt excavated can hardly be estimated as 
one month's record beats the other. The Canal is fifty miles 
long. Few people are aware that sixteen miles of this had been 
completely finished before the French abandoned the work. Of 
the other thirty-four miles, almost ten had been dredged out by 
the French Company, and very little work is required. It would 
appear therefore that almost half of the Canal had been com- 

50 


/ 


pleted before the United States Government took up the work. 

Considerable discussion has been going on in the papers for 
and against the lock canal, but the argument against the lock 
canal has been advanced by the Railroad interests in the United 
States situated west of the Mississippi. There is no doubt 



Effect Of An Earthquake. 

that these Railroads were determined to delay the construction 
of the canal as much as possible, as it meant the reduction in 
railroad rates from the Pacific Coast to the Rocky Mountains. 
When the canal is completed everybody knows that the products 
of the coast can be brought around to the East through the Pa- 
nama Canal at one-third the rates now charged the people of 
California and the North-west. It was amusing to read one week 

51 




that a lake had been discovered under the great Gatun Dam, 
another week that the Mountains surrounding- the Canal were 
slipping into the Sea. Then again, we would read that disease 
was carrying off the employees by the thousands. All of these 
arguments boiled down, simply means that a sea-level canal is 
wanted by the Railroad interests, so as it will take about twenty- 
five years to build it. With a lock canal, two things are accom- 
plished without a doubt. One is that the canal will be finished 
within four years, and the other that a lock canal can be blown 
up in time of war if necessary in a few minutes, rendering it 
absolutely useless to the enemy. The treaty with England calls 
for the construction of a Panama Canal, the same to be neutral 
in time of war, but there is no provision or guarantee that this 
canal cannot belong to a country holding it in time of war. If 
the United States is not in a position to maintain its prestige and 
win out in any fight with European powers or any Asiatic power, 
it means good-bye to the Panama Canal and it will be presented 
to some foreign country that did not spend one dollar in its con- 
struction. At the Atlantic Terminus of the Panama Canal, is 
situated the City of Colon. We regret to record, however, that 
while this City has been somewhat improved in the past few 
years by Americans, there is still room for improvement in many 
ways. Vice and crime are allowed to run rampant in Colon, and 
unless the United States Government puts Colon on the same 
basis as Panama, trouble is bound to come very shortly. In 
Panama and Colon, everybody plays the lottery, which is con- 
trolled by a Chinaman. The Government of Panama derives an 
enormous income from this source, and as far as we could ob- 
serve, this lottery scheme as conducted in Panama is a farce. 
The poor negroes, men and women who come to Panama in con- 
nection with the construction of the canal, spend their last penny 
in this grand gamble, and get little or no return. 

Off for Home. 

We leave Colon the following Wednesday and set sail for 
New York. We intend, however, to stop at Jamaica and Cuba, 
and arrive in New York by rail on the Florida East Coast Rail- 
road, which runs thirty miles out into the Sea along the Florida 
keys. We arrive at Kingston, Jamaica, in about forty hours and 
go ashore for a short time. The City of Kingston was destroyed 

52 


by earthquake a year ago, and the work of reconstruction is now 
going on at a rapid pace. There are beautiful drives around 
Kingston and the market place is a very odd sight. The British 
Government controls Jamaica. This English Colony is a model 
one. The control that the British Government has over its colo- 
nies in all parts of the world is marvelous. They seem to study 
the ways of the natives and actually govern them in their own 
way without their knowing it. 



Fiesta in Cuba. 

We take a little steamer across to Cuba from Jamaica, and 
in about eighteen hours are safely landed on the wharf at Santi- 
ago de Cuba. The approach to Cuba is a beautiful sight, although 
the weather is very warm. Santiago has one of the finest har- 
bors in the world, almost completely landlocked. It was from 

53 


here that the Spanish Fleet went out to meet the American 
squadron, and had their ships destroyed in one of the most re- 
markable naval battles of recent years. We take advantage of 
our stay in Santiago to visit San Juan Hill, situated outside of 
the City, and to view this wonderful battle-field. All Americans 
who can possibly do so, should visit these two interesting places, 
San Juan Hill and the Panama Canal. There is more interest 
centered about these places to-day than any watering places in 
Europe, where so many Americans waste their time and money in 
trying to imitate European ways. 

We leave Santiago by train for Havana, and journey along 
in an observation car attached to a first class train that makes 
the run in less than twenty- four hours. We pass through the 
sugar cane fields of Cuba, and realize for the first time that this 
little Island can well be called the richest Island in the world. 
The sugar and tobacco crops of Cuba alone are worth over one 
hundred million dollars, and as they have two harvests one can 
form some idea of the wealth of this little Island known as the 
Pearl of the Antilles. We stop for a few hours at Matanzas, 
and visit the wonderful caves of Bellamar, which run out under 
the Sea for a mile, and the mountain overlooking the Valley of 
the Yumuri, one of the garden spots of the world. 

Arriving in Havana, the Capital City of Cuba, we decide 
to spend a week there. Havana is the most interesting City in 
the West Indies. Since the Americans came to Cuba, however, 
the City of Havana has lost some of its ancient aspect. The 
introduction of trolley cars and sky-scrapers gives the City a more 
modern appearance. The real old City of Havana, however, is 
still there. A drive along the Prado, pass the Malecon and out 
to the Yedado any afternoon is delightful. Concerts are given 
twice a week at the Malecon and here can be seen the people in 
all walks of life in this quaint City. The old Morro Lighthouse 
and fort, together with the ancient buildings situated near the 
entrance of the harbor reminds one of the stories of the Middle 
Ages. The favorite game of the Cubans is Jai Lai, a sort of 
Tennis but far more exciting. The ordinary Cuban will wager 
his wages on this game. In the beautiful shops along Obispo 
and Florida Streets can be found objects of art and curiosities 
of every description. The City reminds one of Paris to a great 
extent. The old cemetery in Havana is a remarkable sight. In 

54 


the new cemetery, the victims of the Maine were buried, but 
have since been removed to the States. In the old cemetery, 
however, it was the custom to rent space to each family in a 
sort of warehouse arrangement and if they failed to pay their 
rent every year on time, their bones were thrown out into the 
back yard, and to-day can be seen the bones of thousands who 
had to move because they did not pay rent. A funeral in Ha- 



The Cuban Army. 

vana is more like a pageant than anything else. If a rich Cuban 
dies, his relatives are bound to walk behind the hearse, which is 
beautifully decorated, with footmen and driver dressed up like 
a circus wagon. The churches in Havana are a very odd sight 
and some of them have been erected three hundred years. They 
have more churches and clergy than any other City of its size 

55 


in the world. In the cigar factories in Havana, it is a curious 
sight to see the person employed as ‘‘Reader” who sits on a chair 
in the center of a room and continually reads the latest novels 
and newspapers to the cigar makers while they are at work. 
Everybody drinks in Havana some kind of intoxicating liquor, 
but no one gets drunk. They seem to know just exactly how 
much to take, and the ordinary bill of fare in a cafe in Havana 
has more mixed drinks on it than the ordinary restaurant has 
on its food list. If you want a drink with ice in it in Havana, 
you pay extra, as ice is considered a luxury. The water supply 
of Havana is the finest of any City that we saw on our entire 
trip. It is carried from natural springs and is as clear as crys- 
tal. It is very interesting to watch the students, firemen or po- 
licemen in Havana. An alarm of fire is usually given by blow- 
ing whistles from one end of the town to the other, and then 
everybody rushes to the fire and interferes with the firemen, 
trying to put it out. The Cubans are very excitable people and 
yet with a little diplomacy they can be handled just like children. 
Everybody seems to eat pie or some other pastry in Havana, and 
it is nothing unusual to see five or six men standing on the street 
corners, munching away at some piece of pie or cake. The men 
and women in Cuba are mostly Spaniards, in the cities, and in 
the country districts native born Cubans. The women in Cuba 
very seldom walk or take any exercise, in fact, conditions are 
such that they cannot promenade on the streets as the men are 
not over-polite. They are kept under lock and key most of the 
time and grow fat and good-looking. They look out through 
their barred windows like prisoners and yet are the best pro- 
tected and most sociable class in the world. We leave Havana 
with much regret and take steamer for Knights Key in Florida, 
where the Pullman car takes us right back to dear old New York, 
to see Broadway once more. 



5G 





Around Africa 


Across the Andes 


lit, 1909, by Francis J. Lowe 
New York 























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